Hi,Bought "new" Radeon 9800SE card today and loaded latest drivers. All OK - smoother I suppose - but not much in way of increased framerates (about 20-25 for PMDG B1900 at Phoenix with sliders about 3/4 and Chris Willis' clouds installed. Not too much difference from my old Nvidia TI 4600. I'm using 1600 x 1200 and 32 bit textures. I'd like to ask all you video experts out there is this OK or am I expecting too much?Do I need to do anything to make the card perform better or is it as good as it gets?Thanks,KFDUK

I have the same card as you used to have and would also be interested in an answer to this question, i would like to think i would see the same sort of increase in performance and quality i got when i upgraded to my present card from a Voodoo 5. Unfortuantly i suuspect this will not be the case; in benchmarks where the ti 4600 was included with more modern cards it out performed the likes of the FX5600 and was only beaten by the top end cards, but not by as much as some would have us believe. Also how good are the ATI cards at Open GL? the thing is i spent

This past weekend my wife handed me my birthday present... an ATI X800 Pro (must have been a good boy this past year :-) ). It had been months since I had mentioned the card, but she remembered. The reason I mention this is because I was quite happy with my 9800Pro-modded-to-XT (hadn't dropped any hints about needing a new VC). And I wasn't quite sure that she should have bought the card for me... afterall, my 9800 was doing a splendid job in FS9.First thing I did before installing the X800 is do a bit of testing in FS9 (and my other favorite sims). I tested my 9800XT with framerate slider set to unlimited (I always kept it locked at 24 with the 9800). Set up my standard test flight, and checked FPS... it averaged 28-30 on my system. Installed the X800 (using the same drivers) and tested with FR slider set to unlimited. 40-42. Nuff said about FPS increase.The big defference I see with the X800 is in IQ. I'm running it exactly the same as the 9800 (see sig for settings) except that AA is now set at 6X. Framerate locked at 27 now. And FS9 has never looked better!!If all you're after is an increase in framerates (pure performance), then a new whizbang video card won't offer much in FS. But for me, a low and slow GA flyer, the videocard upgrade has given me an even better sim than I had before. The sim was great for me with the 9800, but landmarks now are clearer and come into "focus" sooner. Airports are even more detailed and have less of an impact on FPS. The added notch of AA has ratcheted up my visual interpretation to a level I thought was not really possible (because all looked great in FS for me already).It's been said many times before, and my experience with the X800 proves, that those who wish to increase performance in FS9 must upgrade system components such as CPU, memory, and motherboard (all in the goal of increasing CPU clocks and FSB speeds). In FS9 a video card upgrade offers the most for those who wish to enhance IQ (though I did see a slight increase in FPS... 24 to 27 locked).Hope this helps,Greg

Greg,I see you finally chose X800 Pro. I am getting this card next week as part of the new system. Frankly it took me a couple of days trying to sort out whether I wanted 6800GT or X800Pro but I finally decided on the latter. I see you reached similar decision.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

Michael... I beleive you are in the Bay Area??? If so go to CompUSA and buy an X800 Pro. Info here: http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33777311Having read that thread I just checked my X800 Pro. It's a VIVO in Pro's clothing! 1.6 Samsung, Theatre chip, the works. Easily softmodded to an X800 XT.Food for thought,GregP.S. I asked my wife what she paid... standard X 800 Pro retail. It's a nice deal!

>Food for thought,Indeed it is. Unfortunately I won't be getting my X800 Pro from my local CompUSA in Emeryville since it is part of the whole system being shipped to me from mid-West. So who knows what kind of a card it is. But if I get it and it looks like something what these guys describe most likely I will be back here asking you what is this 'flashing' and how to do it. I did not read all 7 pages of the posts but some people clearly ran into some issues and had to go back. I hope changes like that can be undone.Absolutely, thanks for the info.Michael J.

has anybody any experience of running Open GL with these new cards?

9800SE = `Sucky Edition` and is no better than Ti4600 for FS use. Stay away from SE cards, they may not be what they appear to be. Allcott

KDFIf you can you should return your 9800SE for a refund or credit toward a better card. Unfortunately what Allcott says is true.David

Unfortunately what Allcott says is true>>>There are exceptions though...There are two versions of the 9800SE. A 128 bit version, and a 256 bit version. The 256 version is just a dumbed down 9800 pro, with 4 of the pipelines turned off via software. If those extra 4 pipes are good, "many cards are ok", then you can use software to turn those on, and presto, you have a 9800pro.If thats the case, the 256 bit SE is hardly sucky...It's the deal of the week. But this does not apply to the 128 bit version. Also, I'm sure not all 256 bit versions have the 4 extra pipes with no artifacts, but I hear many do. It's kinda like intel and their CPU's. They don't really know how to make a bad one any more...IE: many 2.4's etc, are actually crippled high end chips with good cores...Hence they overclock real well. I would see first if thats a *good* 256 bit version before running back to the store for a trade. MK